Dhoni seems to be vindicated in his approach of getting rid of the old men on crutches (so to speak) in the team. The big three (Tendulkar, Ganguly and Dravid) have together scored a paltry 64 + 26 + 6 = 96 (at an average of just over 10 runs per innings) in the three innings they have been out so far. Today was no better, taking out the opening partnership of Shewag and Gambhir, the rest of the batsman managed a pitiful 60 runs between the 9 of them. Take out Laxman's 39 and it comes down to 21 runs (excluding the extras) among the 8. This includes "greats" like Tendulkar, Ganguly and Dravid. I think they are way past their "expiry" date. They seem to cling on in the lost hope of raising from the ashes to prove everyone wrong. Even their ardent supporters are now no longer vehemently(and blindly) vouching for them, but seem to be looking forward to their eventual retirement. To quit at the top of the game is something Indians don't understand. They seem to cling on to their past glory and fool themselves in sticking around longer than they should. Look at the Aussies: Adam Gilchrist, Shane Warne, Mark Waugh, McGrath to name a few. They all retired when they were still at the apex of their careers. Everyone thought they could have gone on for a few more years at least. And Steve Waugh who was still on top of the game, but didn't choose the quick exit was harshly shown the door by the Aussie Cricket board and selectors. This just doesn't seem to happen in India. We tend to stick to our "once upon a time" heroes in the hope they will dazzle us with their brilliance again, too awestruck to tell them their time is up. I hope better sense prevails among the players and if they don't get it, at least among the board members or we will be celebrating the "golden anniversary" of our '83 world cup victory in 2033 and hoping we will be able to repeat the performance to get our second world cup.